Alkanedisulfonates are known to be useful as water-soluble detergents and as phosphate-free detergent builders. A typical method of preparing alkanedisulfonates comprises reacting alpha or internal olefins (usually C.sub.15 -C.sub.22) with 2 equivalents of water soluble bisulfite in aqueous alcoholic solutions having a pH of 3.5 to 5.
I have discovered a method of preparing alkanedisulfonates which does not use an aqueous alcohol solution. Briefly, my method comprises reacting the olefins and bisulfite in the presence of a C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 monocarboxylic acid. My process is not only novel; in many instances my process provides improved results such as rate acceleration and yield improvement.
It is of interest that I have found that acetic acid does not work nearly as well in my process as do the C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 monocarboxylic acids.